HONOLULU (May 17, 2012) – The University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents today approved the appointment of Erika Lacro as chancellor of Honolulu Community College. Her appointment is effective July 2, 2012, and is for three years.

Lacro is currently vice chancellor of academic affairs at Honolulu Community College, a position she has held since 2007. She has previously served as assistant dean and director of student services, as well as director of internship and career development for the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Prior to joining the university, she served as quality training manager at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, supervising management trainee and internship programs.

“Honolulu Community College houses the Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training, the Music & Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE), liberal arts programs serving the central Honolulu communities, and a rich array of technical education and apprenticeship programs,” said UH Vice President for Community Colleges John Morton. “As vice chancellor for academic affairs, Erika Lacro has been providing the leadership to ensure that these programs meet the workforce needs of the state. I am very pleased to have Erika selected as the next chancellor of Honolulu Community College and to have her as a part of the community college team.”

As an administrator at Honolulu Community College, Lacro is recognized for providing consistent, stable leadership in academic affairs at the campus as well as with systemwide initiatives. She has successfully managed the Campus Leadership Team composed of academic deans, directors, division chairs, and unit heads.

The search committee and executive interview committee cited as some of her strengths her familiarity with the campus, faculty, staff and programs; her enthusiasm; and her tremendous amount of energy. They commended her ability to make necessary personnel and programmatic changes, and were enthusiastic about her ideas to increase recruitment and retention of Native Hawaiian students.

Lacro received both her master's and bachelor's degrees in travel industry management from UH Mānoa. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in communication and information sciences at UH Mānoa.

The recruitment process to fill the chancellor position at Honolulu Community College began in August 2011 in anticipation of the retirement of the current chancellor, Michael Rota, who will be retiring July 1, 2012.